Duct leak in the Mexican state of Tabasco alarm authorities
A leak of light gasoline caused by a vandalism, which could finally be controlled, alarmed authorities in the Mexican state of Tabasco hours after the explosion of a clandestine takeout has left at least 67 dead in the country.
The vandalism was reported this Saturday at 8.00 local time (14.00 GMT) in the municipality of Huimanguillo, in a private property.
Two hours later, the oil parastatal closed the valves as a preventive measure, managing to control the leak.
In the presence of an armed group, allegedly responsible for the attack on the pipeline, dozens of elements of the Navy, the Federal Police and the Army, came to monitor the site of the spill.
"Everything is controlled apparently and there is no possibility of an explosion, or anything like that, it could be an act provoked by vandalism, armed personnel reported us at the edge of the canyon and that's why support was requested," Oswaldo Osorio, chief of the municipal unit of Civil Protection in Huimanguillo.
As part of the fight against clandestine gasoline trafficking, the military authorities reported the seizure of a property in the municipality of Cárdenas, where drums and fuel tanks were found in a private home.
There were no reported detainees from the operation.
The Mexican Army and state authorities have recently seized 9,300 liters of stolen fuel, vehicles, trailers and containers.
This event in Tabasco comes hours after a tragic explosion in a clandestine fuel intake in the municipality of Tlahuelilpan, in the central state of Hidalgo, which has so far left 67 dead and 75 injured, some of them very serious.
According to official figures of Pemex, last year 12,581 clandestine shots were detected.
